


In Loving Arms.

by On_The_Edge_of_Glory



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-18 09:59:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15483252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/On_The_Edge_of_Glory/pseuds/On_The_Edge_of_Glory
Summary: Alex Montgomery has been running her whole life. Now that the world is over she is still running. But this time she is running straight into Merle Dixon's arms. "You ain't gotta run anymore. Just stay."-MerleCarol Peletier has never experienced real love or affection. All her life she has lived an abusive life. But now with the world over, she may finally find the love she has been searching for from a rough redneck named Daryl Dixon. "Don't compare me to him because I ain't him and I ain't gotta hurt you."-DarylSophia Peletier has never been allowed to live her own life without the worry about being hurt for making the wrong decisions. When she meets Hunter Dixon, a boy who is more rebellious and reckless than anyone she has ever met before, he encourages to live life to the fullest and be who she wants to be. "Rules are meant to be broken."-HunterAndrea Harrison has always been the second choice. She has never been anyone's first choice. She was never truly wanted nor needed. Not until Bow Dixon entered her life. He wants and needs her, something that scares the both of them. "I never needed anyone. But I come to find that I can't live without you, darling."-Bow





	1. Trouble In the Apocalypse

**Author's Note:**

> This will follow season 1 and 2, but with some of my own things added and changed. After season 2 it will not follow the show. In this Daryl and Merle have a brother, middle brother, and Merle will also have a son, Hunter. Sophia and Carl will be sixteen and not eleven, or twelve, however old they were in season one.

The trees were beginning to blur and spots of black were beginning to seep in. Her head felt heavy, almost as if it was to heavy for her shoulders to bear. Her eyes were just as heavy. They kept wanting to shut, to give into the darkness, but she refused to let them. She pushed forward, her limbs shaking from the energy it was burning. She hadn't eaten in days and the lack of food was beginning to hit her hard. She can't even remember when the last time she had any water in her was. She almost was beginning to look and smell like a walker now. She had dirt all over her, her hair was a tangled mess, and her clothes were torn. She had nothing, but the clothes on her back. She can't remember how long she has run, but she doesn't stop, too afraid of what's behind her. Blood seeps through her fingers that rest on her stomach. Her breath comes in short pants as she presses her unoccupied hand to a tree, trying to get back some much-needed air and energy. Her body trembled under the stress she was pushing it through. But she knew if she stopped now then she would never get back up and if she gave into the darkness then she'll never wake back up.

With another huff, she pushes off the tree and returns to running, but her energy wasn't up anymore and she was beginning to sway as she walked. "Shit." She curses as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop herself from seeing double. She heard a noise to her right, causing her to take a deep breath and pull out her hunting knife, it was the only weapon of defense that she had on her. She turned, maybe too quickly, and almost goes tumbling down. "Shit." She pants as she clung to a tree, trying to keep herself upright.

"Hey, are you okay?" She looked up and saw a man standing there. He was rugged looking. Tall, muscular, and rough. He had buzzed hair that looks to be chestnut colored and his eyes looked like cobalt. The man is dressed in a pair of jeans, a plain muscle shirt, and boots that looked like they could break your face in. He had a crossbow in one hand and a string of what appears to be squirrels in the other. "Hey, lady. Aw, shit." She fell to the ground, the darkness consuming her.

*****

Bow Dixon looks down at the woman with a huff. "I just need you to go check the traps, maybe shoot a few squirrels, it ain't nothing." His voice goes into a high pitch, obviously trying to imitate someone. "Yeah, well, baby brother, this sure as hell won't be easy." Bow kneels down by the woman and pulls back her tank top. The woman looked like she has been through hell. Dressed in nothing, but a pair of shorts, a tank top, and barefooted, it appears as if she just ran without bothering putting her shoes on. Her pale skin was covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime. Her dark red hair was a rat's nest and looked like it hadn't been washed in a while. Her emerald eyes had been bloodshot before she fainted. She looked young, but that may have to do with her chubby cheeks, her pouty lips, and big baby doll eyes. She has a small oval-shaped head, all of her was small. She couldn't be more than five feet tall and she is very thin like she hadn't eaten in days. She was more than half the size of Bow and she looked as if she has been through hell.

As Bow looked under the tank top he saw that she had whole gone straight through, which he can only assume is a bullet hole with the way it looked. "Damn girl, what the hell did y'all get yourself into?" Bow looks around, trying to figure out what he should do, but there was only one option and he really hated it. "We're a mile from camp and it appears I'm packing you." He huffed and put the strap of his crossbow over his head, causing the crossbow to rest on his back. He moved his arms under her legs and under her head before lifting her with a grunt. "For a small fry, you sure are heavy." He carried her through the woods, humming under his breath. "I don't the boys will be too thrilled with this. Bringing in some young thing with a bullet wound. Best hurry too if I want to bring you back alive."

******

The camp was alive with chatter from the gossiping women and the time-wasting men. Merle spits to the side as he looked around. It was like this every day. The woman would do the cooking and the cleaning, but spend most of it just talking and having a good time like the world hasn't ended. Merle could deal with the woman chatting away because it made them relax and be happy. It made them not worry and become frightful of every little thing, so Merle could tolerate the chatting. What he could not tolerate were the men that made a big show of doing something, but spending hours doing it because they like to waste as much as they could. Dale was supposed to be fixing the RV, but he'd been fixing that since they first showed up in camp weeks ago and yet it is still 'broken'. Shane was supposed to be getting the water for them to boil, but that was this morning and now it was late afternoon. It only took two hours to get the water, at the most. T-Dog had been chopping wood for the past two hours and the pile wasn't getting any bigger. All of them wasted more time standing around and staring off at the scenery or talking to others that by the time they finish the Dixons have already done ten times their work. Daryl had finished cleaning and dressing his kills. Daryl had finished reorganizing the tent. Daryl got wood for their campfire. Daryl cleaned his bow. Merle cleaned out the firepit, cleaned his guns and knives, finishing cleaning and dressing his kills, got their water for the day, and even had time to bathe and smoke.

It was pathetic how long it took them to do things. He hated procrastinators. If you got shit to do then do it, don't waste time thinking about it. Merle shakes his head and spits again before looking out at the woods. Bow's been gone for a while now. He didn't know how far he went to check those traps, but he should have been back by now. Merle frowns as he looked around the camp. Daryl was off cleaning up, while Hunter... Merle's frowns grows. Hunter was M.I.A. "Goddamn it kid." Merle growls as he stands up, his eyes searching for the sixteen-year-old. He knew Hunter could take care of himself, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the kid likes to stir shit up and cause problems. He took after his old man in that way. Loved to antagonize people and if a fight broke out you didn't have to guess who'd be right there in the midst of it. Hunter loved fighting, loved pissing people off. The kid thinks because he's taller than most kids his age and bigger, he thought he was unstoppable and it was going to get him killed. He was reckless and arrogant and Merle knew one day Hunter would lose.

As Merle scans the area for Hunter he finds Daryl walking back up the road with Hunter by the neck. "Come on, Daryl, I was only kidding." Merle could already hear the teen. His chestnut hair falling into his face, hiding his mischief blue eyes.

"I'm sure your dad won't be seeing it that way." Daryl response back before walking towards Merle.

"What did you go and do now?" Merle asks, annoyance and a hint of anger settling in his words.

"I ain't done nothing wrong." Daryl pushes Hunter, causing the teen to slam into his father.

"He was about to whip his dick out right in front of the women before I got a hold of him."

"I was only kidding." Daryl narrows his eyes at the boy as Merle tried not to laugh. The problem with disciplining Hunter was that he was too much like his father. Merle was in no way shy. He said what he thought and did what he wanted. Merle's sure with the right situation that he would have whipped his dick out in front of a group women too.

"Do I even want to know why?" Merle asks with a huff.

"Carol said she would wash my jeans for me, so I said go ahead."

"And so you started undressing."

"It was a joke. I wasn't really going to." Merle raises an eyebrow.

"That, I highly doubt." Merle says before eyeing his son over.

"When Bow gets back you're dressing and cleaning those kills. You're also going to help blonde hype chick pick mushrooms."

"Amy?" Hunter looked horrified. "But... But... Amy..." Amy was the younger sister to Andrea. Many thought Amy was the better of the two, but Hunter was quick to find out it was not true. Amy was manipulative, selfish, and a total bitch when she wanted to be. The last time Hunter went out in the woods her she practically ripped his jeans off him to give him a blow job. Hunter wouldn't have mind that, but he hated aggressive girls who won't take no for an answer, the only thing that makes him different from his father. He likes submissive, shy, quiet girls and Amy was way too much like Hunter's mother for him to appreciate the offer of getting him off. "She practically raped me last time." Daryl snorts as he takes a seat as Merle grins.

"Take care of Bow's kills, mushroom hunt with the blonde sister, and..." Merle looks around for ideas before smirking. "Help the old man out on his RV and help deputy dick lips with that stupid radio."

"Are you for fucken real?"

"Watch boy." Merle snaps. "You don't talk back to your father. Next time you want to show that baby dick of yours off to women do it when Daryl nor I are around."

"First off, fuck you. Second of all, my dick is huge. Thirdly, go fuck yourself." Merle slaps Hunter in the back of the head, causing him to stumble. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, he'd never actually hurt his son, but it was enough to get Hunter to shut up.

"Get to fucken work with Amy, kid. When your uncle gets back you're cleaning and dressing." Hunter glares before turning and storming off. Daryl chuckles and pulls out his knives to clean. "Got something to say?" Daryl glances up at Merle and manages a small smile.

"You're good with him, but we both know you'd drop them too." Merle grins.

"Don't we know it."

"Merle, Daryl, need a little help over here." Both the brothers turn to see Bow rushing out with an unconscious girl in his arms. "She's been shot."


	2. Trained in the Art of Confidence

"Hand me that hydrogen peroxide." Bow demands from Shane as he gathers the thread and needle he needs to stitch her up. Shane hands it over and Bow pours into the wound before wiping the liquid away to keep the skin dry. "Carol, you have the steadiest hands, thread the needle." Carol does as ordered and hand it over to Bow. They have the woman laying down on the table of the picknick table, which the Dixons made a few weeks ago. It was the best place for her. It was long enough, didn't need to worry about dirtying it, and it was sturdy and flat enough for her to lay without Bow worrying about her moving.

Once Carol threaded the needle, Bow begins to stitch her up. "How do you know how to do all this?" Andrea asks as she looks at Bow. Bow lifts his blue eyes from the stomach of the woman to look at the blonde.

"Was a medic in the military." He said before looking back down and continued to stitch her closed. "She lost a lot of blood, but we don't know her blood type and we ain't got the equipment to fix it, so we just got to close her up and hope for the best."

"Where did you find her anyways?" Shane's voice and face hold accusations that makes Merle want to punch the officer in the face.

"Found her stumbling through the woods."

"Where are her shoes?" Lori asks, causing Bow to fight the erg to snap at her.

"She's been shot, it's pretty clear that she went through some shit. Probably didn't bother putting her shoes on." Bow knew this girl was attacked and that she was running. It's quite clear that she didn't take the time to get on a pair of shoes when she was shot. Lori makes a face and crosses her bony arms over her flat chest.

"Well, I'm just saying, how could she run through the woods with no shoes."

"Roll her over." Bow commands, causing Merle and Shane to move and roll the girl over. Bow looks at Lori once more. "The girl was shot, I'm sure she'd be dead if she took the time to put on shoes. She ran barefoot through those woods because her life depended on it. That's how she managed to run through the woods with no shoes." His words are sharp enough to cause Lori to flinch, but the scowl is still in place. "Now shut the fuck up and let me work before this girl bleeds out even more." He throws her a hard look before looking towards his nephew. "Hand me that peroxide again." Hunter hands it over and Bow pours some more on the wound before he stitches up that side. "We're gonna need bandages." Andrea runs ahead to the rv to get some as Bow finishes up.

"How long do you think she'll be out?" Dale asks as he looks at the wound.

"Hard to say. A wound like this with that much blood loss... it could be a day, maybe more. That is if she survives." Shane's gaze hardens.

"If she doesn't you just wasted our resources. Plus we don't know this girl. She could be a threat to us. She isn't our responsibility." Bow looks at Shane with a heavy glare.

"This." Bow holds up the thread. "Is mine. Those are mine." He points to his needle, scissors, and peroxide. "The only thing here that ain't mine is the bandages that the blonde is getting. The rest is mine." He says as he finishes the stitches and cuts the thread. "I was just kind enough to share. So get off your goddamn high horse. She ain't your responsibility deputy dick lips. I brought her back, so she'll be my responsibility if it's that big of a problem. Now go ahead and run long. I'm sure you have to go jerk off now." Shane's face turns red from both anger and embarrassment, but he knew better than to continue this fight.

"She's your problem, Dixon." Shane turns and storms off, causing Bow to roll his eyes. 

"Here." Bow glances up to see Andrea standing there with the bandages in her hand. Everyone had quickly scurried off when they saw bow's glare, so now the only people left standing by the girl are the Dixons and Andrea.

"Thanks." Bow takes it, his hand skimming hers, causing a heated blush to come across her face before she turns and hurries off. Bow snorts before going and covering the girl's wounds.

"She's kind of hot. A bit dirty and smells pretty awful, but she's sure hot." Daryl, Merle, and Bow look at Hunter as he said that.

"Let's go kid, you have work to do." Merle says before grabbing Hunter by the ear and leading him off.

"Ow, ow, dad, dad. Ow, come on, seriously?" Bow chuckles and looks over at Daryl.

"What'd he go and do now?"

"Tried to whip his dick out in front of the women." Bow shook his head as a laugh erupts from him.

"The boy is something else."

"If that girl was running from someone, maybe one of us should keep an eye on her until she wakes up. She doesn't know any of us. She might not trust us." Daryl says, causing Bow to nod.

"Was thinking the same thing. I also thought we should see if deputy cocksucker got those handcuffs. Don't need her trying to kill us before we can explain that we've saved her life."

"Rather not get him involved...." Daryl sighs as he sees Bow's look. "I'll go get 'm."

"Good baby brother." Daryl flips Bow off before strutting off. Bow huffs and looks down at the girl. "Who are you?"

*****

Sophia sits on a large boulder by the creek. She watches as Carol, Eliza, and Louis play in the water. They looked like they were having the time of their lives with swimming and splashing one another. They had called her to join them several times, but Ed was on watch and Sophia knew he'd see her if she joined. Ed didn't like her and her mother showing any skin. Her mother dressed in things grandmothers would wear. The clothes were shapeless and baggy and did nothing for her. Sophia's clothes were just as baggy and shapeless, but at least hers didn't look like she got them from her grandmother's closet. She hated how Ed controlled them. Forced them to wear ugly clothes. Didn't allow her to play with the other kids or let her mother have fun with the other women. Ed ruled them both and Sophia hated it.

"You ain't joining them?" Sophia turns her head to watch Hunter Dixon stroll on over to her boulder where she sat with her knees to her chest.

"No." Hunter shrugs before pulling his wife beater over his head. "W-What are you doing?" Sophia stutters as Hunter kicks his boots off.

"Going for a swim. What does it look like? It's hot out." Carl was shirtless, but seeing Hunter shirtless was different. Carl was thin and weak, but Hunter had muscles, abs, chest hair! Hunter wasn't a kid. He was becoming a man, while Carl was still a kid. Hunter hit puberty hard, but with no acne, unlike Carl who only got the acne. Sophia almost losses it when Hunter pulls his jeans off for the second time today. But when she glances over she turns pink and her jaw drops. Hunter was not wearing any underwear.

"A-are you going s-swimming na-naked?" Hunter turned and Sophia's face grew redder. Her eyes taking him in. He was just how she imagined. Thick muscular arms, a toned six pack of abs, strong legs, nice looking ass, dark curly hair over his chest and... Sophia gulps. He was big for someone his age and it appeared if he didn't give a shit about shaving down there like some men did. He let it run wild in the dark curly hair.

"Like what you see?" Sophia's face only got redder. "How about you come join me, sweetheart." Most girls Sophia's age would either join him or refuse and call him something, but no, like with everything Sophia wasn't normal. She could have hit herself for how she reacted. She grabs her things and practically ran out of there. "Or not..." Was the last thing she heard Hunter say before disappearing around the bend. Her heart was racing in her chest, her hands were shaking, and her breaths were heavy. She just saw Hunter Dixon naked, completely naked, as naked as the day he was born.

Sophia gulps before starting up the hill. "Sophia, are you okay, you look flushed." Sophia practically jumped out of her skin as she heard her mother.

"Must be the heat." Sophia manages to say, but her words are a bit rough.

"Why don't you drink some water and sit in the shade." Carol says as she goes to get some, but Sophia stops her.

"I think I'm just going to go lay down."

"Oh, okay. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yup, completely okay." Sophia squeaks before rushing into the tent. Her heart is still pounding and the image of Hunter naked is engraved in her mind. How can anyone be so okay with being naked in front of people? It's insane. He didn't even look embarrassed. He looked as arrogant as usual, although he did catching her ogling him, so that may have put his arrogance up a few notches. Sophia falls back on her sleeping bed and stares up at her tent's roof. Although, any teenager who looked like that would be arrogant too because he defiantly backed it up. "Shit." Sophia curses as she closes her eyes. "I'm never going to unsee that." Sophia bites her lips as heat fills her belly. "Stop thinking about it." She snaps before running a hand through her hair.

She closes her eyes as she imagines Hunter running his calloused hands through it. His body pressed against hers. Sophia sighs as she runs a hand down her body, imagining they are Hunter's hands. "Sophia, would you mind grabbing the dirty clothes from in there." Sophia's eyes snap open and pink fills her cheeks once more.  _"I need to stop thinking about him. He's bad news."_ , Sophia thought as she gets up and helps her mom.


	3. Watch What You Say

"You did what?" Merle snaps as he glares down at his son. The boy was getting out of control. Merle didn't care that the boy had no filter and loved to make sexist, racists, and sexual jokes. It's what made him Merle's son. What pissed Merle off was how Hunter got into fights, how he antagonize the people of the group, how he acted like he was a big shot who could do whatever he wanted. He acted like some arrogant son of a bitch, like Merle. Merle had enough problems on his hands that he didn't need to add a mini version of himself to the list. The kid was going to get his ass beaten or worst get a knife to the throat for his actions. "Which one?" Merle snaps.

"What do you mean?" Hunter cocks his head to the side, his bangs falling over his left eye, while his eyes went wide and his lip gave a pout. He looked so damn innocent, cute, and childish that it almost made Merle soften, almost.

"Don't pull that cutesy crap with me. It worked when you were a baby, but you're sixteen years old, Hunter and that crap ain't working anymore." Hunter pouts. "Don't." Merle snaps. "Don't pull the pout." Hunter looks down at his feet, his foot drawing circles in the ground.

"I'm sorry, daddy."

"This kid is the son of devil, there's no doubt about it." Bow says, causing Daryl to chuckle.

"Shut up!" Merle snaps at his brothers before glaring down at his brother.

"I didn't mean to get you mad, daddy." As if to make it worst, Hunter forces tears to come to his eyes as he looks up at Merle, pulling all the stops. Merle glare softens as he sees the look, it almost makes his heartbreak.

"Goddamn it!" Merle snaps before sitting down with a huff. "Start from the beginning. What did you do?" Hunter grins and sits down across from him, any sign of tears and guilt gone.

"It was hot and after all that goddamn shit you've been making me do, I wanted a swim. The other kids were swimming." Sounds innocent enough. Merle sighs and nods.

"Okay, fine-"

"So I stripped and went in." Merle's head snaps up.

"What?!"

"I stripped." Hunter shrugs as he runs a hand through his long wet hair.

"Naked?!"

"Well, of course. Did you want me to go in my jeans? That shit shafes."

"What about your boxers?"

"I didn't wear any. You know that shit tickles my balls. I rather let my jeans scrape them, at least then I can get off after a long walk." Hunter grins, causing Merle to groan. "Yeah, like that."

"Hunter, did anyone see you?"

"The other kids were far enough away. I didn't swim near them and they didn't stay in that long."

"Good-"

"But Mouse saw my dick." Merle's eyes widen.

"Who?"

"Mouse." Hunter turns and points to the girl sitting by Carol. Merle couldn't remember her name, but he knew she was shy, a bit timid, and didn't often play with the other kids. "Stripped right down in front of her." Hunter grins as if it was a big achievement. "I think if I waited a bit longer she would have blown me too with the way she staring at my junk." Merle buries his face in his hands with a groan. Why did he have to get that bitch pregnant? Why did he have to have this kid for a son? Never before did Merle worry about this shit. He used to encourage baby Daryl to do the same shit Hunter is doing. Maybe because it didn't come back to him. If Shane knew Merle's son stripped and skinned dipped in front of innocent little Sophia then he'd have all their heads. Not that Merle was afraid of the dickhead, but he rather not be known as worst of a father than everyone already thinks. Plus he didn't feel like dealing with Shane. "What?"

"Kid, how many times do I have to tell you, do as I say-"

"Not as I do, I know." Hunter rolls his eyes. "You know, dad, you're a hypocrite. You're always encouraging Daryl to fuck someone, but the second I do anything of the such you're on my case."

"Because I don't have to deal with it. Daryl is a grown ass man and his mistakes are his mistakes. You're still a kid, which means every mistake you do comes back on me." Hunter frowns. "Don't you get it. I don't care if you run free and are reckless, but I care about you getting into trouble and getting hurt. What if that girl told her father, huh?"

"Then you'll protect me." Merle sighs and reaches over to ruffles Hunter's hair.

"Kid, I won't always be there to protect you. If that man got you alone I'm sure he'd kill you for exposing his daughter to your tiny dick." Hunter shot a glare at his dad.

"Tiny? Bullshit. I ain't tiny and I'll show you." He goes to stand up, but Merle pulls him down.

"Knock that shit off kid. I swear, I thought once you reached five your stripping days were over." Merle huffs. "But you're worst. If I didn't force you to be in clothes I'm sure you'd walk around naked all the time."

"Sure would be cooler." Hunter grins.

"Until your dick got caught on fire from the campfire or cut while you're skinning." Daryl jumps in to say. "Wear your damn clothes."

"Why do I feel like I have two dads?" Hunter huffs.

"Because you do. Didn't you know these suck each other's dicks at night? Cuddle and everything." Daryl throws the squirrel guts at Bow, who dodges with ease.

"What about you, Bow-Lin, busy fucking yourself last night, I swear I think I heard a bone break." Hunter snickers as Bow grows red in the face.

"Shut the fuck up." Bow snaps before looking at Hunter. "And keep your damn clothes on." Hunter rolls his eyes and smirks.

"After I fuck that piece of pussy." He says as he glances over at Sophia, which earns him a slap to the head from Daryl.

"Don't even think about it."

"Why you fucken the mom?"

"Uh oh." Daryl stood up quickly causing the smile to fall from Hunter's face.

"D..Daryl..." Daryl grabs a hold of Hunter, causing him to scream. "No, dad!"

"Told you I would be able to protect you everytime." Merle grins as he watches Daryl carrying the struggling Hunter down the hill. The others watch, some follow, as Daryl reaches the creek.

"Put me down you cock sucking pussy-" The rest of his words are cut off as he is thrown into the creek. His scream rips through the air, causing some to laugh others try to cover it.

"Have fun with wet jeans, bet that feels really good on your dick." Daryl says before turning and heading up the hill. He walks back over to Bow and Merle, who grin.

"Threw him in the creek?" Bow asks.

"Yup."

"Good, the fucker deserves it." Merle says. 

"Get the fuck off me! Let me out of here!" The Dixons turn as they hear the screaming of a woman coming from the rv.

"Aw, shit."


	4. We Ain't Them

Merle and Bow walk into the rv to find the girl struggling to break free from the handcuffs, while Shane is only making matters worst. "Hey!" Bow shouts, causing the rv to grow silent. "You were shot and I brought you back here and stitched you up myself. If you pull those damn stitches you're fixing it yourself." The girl glares at Bow, but he can see the fatigue in her eyes.

"We got you some food and water." Merle says as he crouches down in front of her and hands a bowl of the soup Daryl had just finished making them.

"It has meat in it, so it'll give you the much-needed iron. And here's some water. You're severely dehydrated and malnourish along with, you know, having a hole in your belly." Bow says as the woman slowly and hesitantly takes the plate from Merle.

"I'm gonna uncuff you, but you best not try shit, woman." Merle says as Shane steps forward.

"You're gonna uncuff her? We don't this woman. She could be dangerous." Merle raises an eyebrow.

"You're worried about a tiny woman? Don't worry, officer dick lips, we can handle it. Why don't you go back to hiding in your tent jerking off." Shane snarls, but Bow steps in before he can get to Merle, towering over the officer.

"Back the fuck down, Shane before you hurt yourself." Bow's words are quiet but deadly. Shane glares but does listen and head out.

"If that cock sucker tries that shit again, I'm gutting the fucker." Bow rolls his eyes and motions to the girl.

"Just uncuff her, Merle." Merle huffs before doing as told and uncuffing her. "The name's Bow, this is my brother, Merle. You got a name, sweetheart?"

"Alex."

"Nice to meet ya, now how about you tell us how you got shot and by who."

*****

Alex swallows as she looks around at the men. They seemed dangerous. The one who found her in the woods seemed even taller and bigger than she remembers. The man beside him was short but just as large with muscles. You can tell both were brothers though because they both have the same intense blue eyes. The man, Bow, he had short crewcut hair and today he's dressed in another pair of jeans and a muscle shirt, this one is a dark green, and he has the same boots on. The other man, Merle, he had on a very thin and a bit wore out black muscle shirt with a black leather vest over it, a pair of jeans, and his own deadly boots.

Alex didn't know if she could trust these men, but Bow did say he stitched her up, which meant he saved her life. If they wanted to kill her they wouldn't have saved her, although, they could still hurt her. "I don't... I don't normally stay in groups." She tells them.

"What happened?" Merle asks as he sits across from her against the cabinets.

"They seemed nice enough. Offered me some food and rest for the night and I was starving." Merle foot hits her knee.

"Then eat." Merle says. "We can wait." Alex just sat there, causing Merle to sigh and motions for her hand to continue.

"They drugged the food."

"Well, we didn't." Merle says before grabbing the bowl and taking a sip of it. "See?" Alex frowns as he hands her back the bowl. She hesitantly lifts the spoon and takes a sip. Merle rolls his eyes. "What are you having brunch with the queen? You're starving so dig in." Alex rolls her eyes before bringing the bowl to her lips and taking gulps of the stewy broth.

"What happened next?" Bow asks once she puts the bowl down.

"They must have underestimated the dosage because I woke up just as they were...." Merle shifts in his spot.

"Just as they were what?"

"Taking my shoes off." Merle and Bow exchange a look.

"They were gonna rape ya?" Merle asks, causing Alex to nod as she stares down at the ground. "We ain't gonna go and do that." Merle informs her. "We ain't like that."

"I'm sure."

"We got kids and women here." Bow jumps into say. "We ain't like that, darling."

"What happened after?" Merle asks.

"I kicked one of them in the face, stabbed another in the throat and took off running. One of the men fired his gun, got me, but I kept running. I didn't stop until..."

"Until you dropped." Bow said, causing her to nod.

"Yeah. How long have I been out?"

"About a day." Merle eyes Alex over. Whereas she got uncomfortable when the group of men did that Alex didn't see Merle checking her out, but checking her over. "You hurt anywhere else?" Alex shakes her head and pulls her knee up to her chest.

"No."

"You need to keep eating. You're weak and you're gonna need to build that strength back up. The old man was nice enough to let you have the bed until you finished healing."

"How long will that be?"

"Could be days, could be weeks. Depends on if you take care of yourself. Do you hurt? Might have some pills around."

"I'll be okay. I've had worst." This gets a raised eyebrow from both brothers. "Let's just say this isn't my first time running into bad men."

"Well, we ain't that kind of bad." Merle winks, causing her to roll her eyes.

"I'm sure." She says dryly.

"Eat." Merle orders as he bumps her knee again. She picks up her fork and begins to pick up the meat and eat it.

"What kind of meat is this?" She asks.

"Dick meat." Bow gives Merle a look, but much to their surprise Alex laughs.

"Yum." She says with a smile, causing Merle to grin.

"I like her. Let's keep her." Bow snorts at Merle before motioning to the cup.

"Drink too." She nods and takes gulps of the water.

"Easy. If you eat or drink too fast it'll upset your belly and you'll just vomit it back up." She nods and takes slower and smaller sips. "Good."

"So, you said you had women and children. How many?"

"Hmm..." Merle says. "You got pterodactyl, rapist bitch, rapist bitch's hot sister, Mouse, the nosey bitch, the taco bender's wife... that'd be about six women."

"You sure like nicknames." Merle grins.

"Oh darling, I got plenty." Alex smiles and leans back.

"So what's their real names?"

"Uh..." Bow snorts.

"Lori, Amy, Andrea, Carol, Jacquie, And I think Miranda is the other."

"He pays attention to that shit." Merle waves off his brother.

"And kids?"

"Merle's son, Hunter, Carol's daughter, Sophia, Miranda's twins, Eliza and Louis, and Lori's son, Carl. There's five. They're all sixteen except for Eliza and Louis they're fourteen."

"Okay."

"Then for the men you have us, our baby brother, Daryl, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, Dale, Jim, Ed, and taco bender, never got his name. You don't have to remember any of the names either?"

"Well, don't worry I'll at least remember the guy who saved me and the guy who's been staring at my breast for the past ten minutes." Merle grins at Alex and gives her a wink.

"Once you're feeling better why don't you and I go bump some uglies."

"Merle-"

"I would, but I think you'd be too small to fill me."

"Why you stretched?"

"No, but your micro."

"I'll show you micro." When Merle goes for his belt, Bow hits him in the back of the head.

"And you wonder where Hunter gets it from. Just stop being a disgusting pig and go make sure that boy isn't out there flashing people again." Merle grins and walks off as Bow shakes his head. "I swear Merle is just as bad as his son."


	5. Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for some reason archive published this chapter, but the **** at the end meant I wasn't done and there was going to be more. So I'm sorry that this was published before I was done. Also I've been away a long time because for the first week I was on vacation, second week I had work almost every day, third week I went on vacation again (My family have a vacation home we go to a lot and it has no wifi), and the fourth and fifth week my grandfather has been in the hospital because he's been very sick. He's okay now, but I've been so busy with dealing with that that I haven't updated, so I'm sorry for the long wait and the error on this chapter.

Daryl's eyes move around the camp as everyone works. The women have just come back from doing the clothes, so now they were hanging up the wet clothes. "We're running low on food again." Bow says as he takes a seat beside Daryl. "Going to need fresh meat."

"I was hoping on catching a buck out there." Daryl admits as he pulls his eyes away from the women hanging up the clothes to Bow.

"Alone?"

"Prefer it, but I know you assholes won't let me go off on my own."

"Of course not, Darylina. We need to make sure our baby brother is safe and protected." Merle coos, causing Bow to snort.

"I have to stay here and make sure the girl is okay." Bow tells them as he pulls out his knife to sharpen.

"What about Hunter?" Merle asks, sounding serious for once. "I don't want to leave him here with only you."

"I can keep an eye on him." Bow says, causing Merle to laugh.

"That boy plays you like a fiddle. There's no way you'll keep in control. Daryl needs someone else out there and Hunter will be killed if he goes alone with Daryl, so I guess we're all going, except you little brother." Merle says, causing Bow to roll his eyes.

"Just don't you go shooting Hunter's ass."

"I'll try not to." Merle scowls. "That boy might just have a mild concussion with how much I slap him in the head for being stupid."

"He's your son." Merle glares at Bow.

"You calling me stupid?"

"'M saying you might have been born with a concussion." Daryl stands up, grabbing his hunting pack on the way, already sensing a fight about to start. Bow was the more relaxed and outgoing one of them all. Most days he is more of like the big brother than Merle is. It's the years Bow spent in the military, it both toughened him up and made him smarter. Merle barely had a year out of Bootcamp before he got kicked out for fighting with his S.O. Merle was always looking for a fight and Bow just happens to always be the most level-headed and cool collected to get Merle pissed off. Merle hates anyone who doesn't lose their temper easily and it takes a lot for Bow to boil over. He got it from his mother. All sugar and no spice.

"Go get your boy and get your asses ready. I want to get out of here before the sun sets." Merle throws a final glare at Bow, who only grins up at him before he storms off looking for Hunter.

"Be careful out there, Daryl, remember that you might not be alone in those woods. And I ain't talking about the walkers." Daryl glances at Bow before looking at the RV.

"You talking about the group that attacked the girl?"

"Yeah, so keep an eye out there. We don't know what we're dealing with just yet or how close they are too us." Daryl nods, already not liking the feeling he was getting. His eyes move around the camp to the women. All of them were young and still had young bodies too. Daryl hated to imagine the camp catching them off guard and seeing their women, especially the young ones like Sophia and Eliza.

"Have someone on guard at all times. Someone who knows how to fire a gun and is willing to if a threat comes." They both look towards the old man on the rv. The man made the women and children feel safer, but Daryl and Bow knew that man would never pull the trigger.

"I'll keep an eye out." Bow promises, causing Daryl to nod.

"Good."

"You ready?" Daryl looks over at his nephew and nods.

"Yeah, come on kid." Daryl says as he turns and heads into the woods with Merle and Hunter. Daryl was glad that Hunter was around because without Hunter than Merle would be tormenting Daryl the whole time. Merle loved to annoy the hell out of his brothers and mess with them. He was a downright bully at times, but with Hunter Merle always tried to show him a better side. Daryl just hopes it stays that way for the whole hunting trip.

*****

Alex takes the water that Bow hands her as he checks her stitches. "How are you so good at this anyway?" She asks as he fixes one of the stitches.

"Went to medical school." He recovers the wound as Alex stares at him. "I know, look at me you would never figure that I would be accepted into college nevermind graduate from med school." He looks at her with a small smile. "I mean, between the cameo pants, my name, and my winning personality you'd think I was nothing, but a drop out redneck who lives in the trailer park." He's dressed in his old army pants and his old army boots. They still fit nicely and believe or not they were comfortable. His dog tags rested against his muscle shirt, shining as the light hits the medal just right.

"I didn't mean..." Alex trails off, not sure what to say to him. The truth is that looking at Bow and his brothers they did come across as rough rednecks and the stereotype is drop out white trash. It's hard to look past that and even harder to imagine Bow went through med school and the army.

"It's okay." Bow gives her a gentle smile. "My family and I learned long ago to ignore what people thought. Sticks and stones after all."

"You were in the army." She states, causing Bow to nod.

"Until I turned thirty-five. I spent ten years in the army."

"Why'd you leave?" Bow pulls up his shirt revealing a deep scar across his stomach. "I was working on some fallen soldiers when the explosion went off. A piece of debris from the tank flew into me. I barely survived. I was in the hospital for close to two years between physical therapy and the healing process. After that my nephew was born and I knew Merle needed all the help he could get."

"How old are you all?"

"Merle's the oldest, he's fifty-three, while I'm fifty-one, and Daryl is forty-three, he's the baby of the family."

"And your nephew?"

"Sixteen." Alex nods as she rests her cheek on her knees, which are pulled up to her chest. "What about you? Got any family?"

"None worth mentioning." Bow nods as he packs his things up.

"We all got at least one member of our family that's shit."

"Who's yours?" Bow glances over at her.

"My father." He picks his things up and stands up. "That's about all I need to do with you. You just eat that and drink all of that water, you need to get your energy back up if you want to heal faster."

"Thank you." Bow nods and moves towards the door. "When I get better... You won't make me stay, will you?" Bow looks over at her and gives her a smile.

"We ain't making you do anything, sweetheart. When you can walk on your own and protect yourself you're free to go, but you can stay too if you want. Your choice. It's about all we have nowadays. Choices." Bow heads out of the rv as Andrea rounds the corner.

"I was just about to check on the woman. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's up and eating. Still weak and shaky, but in a few days she should have her energy up and she might even feel up to moving around."

"That's good." Andrea nods. "I was worried when I saw all that blood. Was half afraid she wouldn't make it."

"She'll make it. I'm sure of that." Andrea nods as Bow keeps his eyes on his surroundings, scanning the area for any threat.

 "Bow?" He glances over at her.

"Yeah?" Andrea smiles as she looks at Bow. Bow seems intimidating at first and a bit rough looking, but he is just a nice guy. Andrea has gotten to see who he really is since meeting him. He is always looking out for everyone at camp and even though he isn't a fan of Lori or Shane, but if either of them were bleeding out he'd try his damnest to keep them alive because that is the man he is. He's selfless and noble. "Andrea?"

"Sorry." Andrea blushes slightly as she looked at the rugged man. "Shane and Lori won't say it, but I honestly don't know what we'd do without you and your family." Bow gives a small smile, looking away and back at the trees. He wasn't used to compliments, they made him uncomfortable.

"Thanks."

"Just telling you the truth. We'd be dead within a week without any of you." She tells him. "I should get back. Have laundry to do." Andrea says with a roll of her eyes. Anybody can tell that Andrea wants to do more for this camp then wash their clothes.

"We're running low on supplies." Bow explains. "Every day we're using up supplies and the Asian kid can only bring back so much."

"I know. I keep trying to tell Shane we need to send more than just a kid into the city, but he doesn't want to hear it."

"Shane doesn't want to hear anything that he isn't the one to say." Bow tells her. Shane has been a pain to him from day one. Bow could do very well without him. He keeps ignoring what Bow has to say despite Bow having military and medical experience. Shane's just a small town cop with little to no experience with survival past shooting a gun.

"Well, he's an idiot if he's not going to listen to what you have to say."

"That's why I ain't saying. When my brothers get back I'm planning on going to the city for supplies with the kid. You're welcomed to join if you want unless you rather wash our clothes." Andrea laughs and shakes her head.

"I rather much join you. I mean what's better than a trip into a walker-infested city."

"We'll be fine as long as we don't draw attention to ourselves and stay silent."

"I'm sure all of us will be safe with a Dixon with us. You men were built tough." Bow raises an eyebrow as he looks over at her. He wasn't the best with women due to spending a good portion of his life surrounded by men, but that sounded like she was hitting on him. As if realizing what she said her cheeks colored, but she doesn't seem to regret what she said. "Just let me know when we'll be leaving." Andrea says before turning and heading down to the lake where the other women are.

*****

Daryl rubs his temples as he hears Hunter behind him. The boy has been in a bad mood since they left the camp. Daryl doesn't even know what is wrong now, but he wasn't about to ask. He learned long ago that asking Hunter anything is like talking to a wall. Hunter purposely tries to confuse you when he answers your questions. By the time he's finished you're too exhausted to even remember what you asked. Maybe that's the point. Either way, Daryl rather suffer from a headache from the fighting going on behind him rather than ask what was the fighting about.

The only problem is that at this rate they weren't going to find anything. "Maybe we should split up." Daryl suggests, causing all fighting to seise.

"No way in hell, Darylina. You hear Bow, woods ain't safe." Daryl rolls his eyes and huff before turning to them.

"If you two weren't bitchen we'd have somethin' by now, but we ain't got nothin'." Daryl tells them.

"Then tell this fucker to stay being a hypocritic fuck." Daryl moves quick, grabbing Hunter by the ear. "Ow, ow, ow."

"Don't talk about your father like that, boy." Daryl snaps. "You understand me?" Hunter whimpered from the pain in his ear.

"Daryl, that's enough." Merle took Daryl's hand off Hunter's red ear. Hunter rubs his ear and stumbles back. Daryl feels as if a lead weight fell into the pit of his stomach as he saw the fear and pain in Hunter's eyes. "You okay, kiddo?" Merle asks, crouching down in front of him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hunter mumbles.

"Hunt-"

"It's okay, Daryl." Hunter says as he looks at his uncle. "I'm an asshole. You're not Will." Hunter cocks his head to the side and looks out past the trees. "Look." Hunter whispers as he points out the buck just a few yards away. Hunter raises his bow to shoot, but just before he could a girl covered in mud comes running out and stabs the deer right in the throat.

"What the fuck?"


End file.
